Galatia 1:6

Occasion of the Letter

1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one ¹  who called you by the grace of Christ ²  and are following ³  a different ⁴  gospel –

Galatia 1:13

1:13 For you have heard of my former way of life ⁵  in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it.

Galatia 3:1

Justification by Law or by Faith?

3:1 You ⁶  foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell ⁷  on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed ⁸  as crucified!

Galatia 3:3

3:3 Are you so foolish? Although you began ⁹  with ¹⁰  the Spirit, are you now trying to finish ¹¹  by human effort? ¹² 

Galatia 4:22

4:22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the ¹³  slave woman and the other by the free woman.

Galatia 5:10

5:10 I am confident ¹⁴  in the Lord that you will accept no other view. ¹⁵  But the one who is confusing ¹⁶  you will pay the penalty, ¹⁷  whoever he may be.

Galatia 6:4

6:4 Let each one examine ¹⁸  his own work. Then he can take pride ¹⁹  in himself and not compare himself with ²⁰  someone else.

[1:6]  ¹ sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).

[1:6]  ² tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì⁵¹ א A B F^c Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg sy^p bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241^s pc sy^h**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thret^lem), a few mss (Ì^46vid F* G H^vid ar b Tert Cyp Ambst Pel) have simply χάριτι with no modifier. Internally, the reading that seems best to explain the rise of the others is the shortest reading, χάριτι. Indeed, the fact that three different adjuncts are found in the mss seems to be a natural expansion on the simple “grace.” At the same time, the witnesses for the shortest reading are not particularly impressive, being that they largely represent one textual strand (Western), and a less-than-reliable one at that. Further, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see the construction χάρις (cari", “grace”) followed by Χριστοῦ without some other name (such as κυρίου [kuriou, “Lord”] or ᾿Ιησοῦ). The construction χάρις θεοῦ is likewise frequent in Paul. Thus, upon closer inspection it seems that the original wording here was χάριτι Χριστοῦ (for it is difficult to explain how this particular reading could have arisen from the simple χάριτι, in light of Paul’s normal idioms), with the other readings intentionally or accidentally arising from it.

[1:6]  ³ tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”

[1:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “another.”

[1:13]  ⁵ tn Or “lifestyle,” “behavior.”

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “O” (an interjection used both in address and emotion). In context the following section is highly charged emotionally.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Or “deceived”; the verb βασκαίνω (baskainw) can be understood literally here in the sense of bewitching by black magic, but could also be understood figuratively to refer to an act of deception (see L&N 53.98 and 88.159).

[3:1]  ⁸ tn Or “publicly placarded,” “set forth in a public proclamation” (BDAG 867 s.v. προγράφω 2).

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “Having begun”; the participle ἐναρξάμενοι (enarxamenoi) has been translated concessively.

[3:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by the Spirit.”

[3:3]  ¹¹ tn The verb ἐπιτελεῖσθε (epiteleisqe) has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534). This is something the Galatians were attempting to do, but could not accomplish successfully.

[3:3]  ¹² tn Grk “in/by [the] flesh.”

[4:22]  ¹³ tn Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the recipients of his letter. This verse is given as an example of the category called “well-known (‘celebrity’ or ‘familiar’) article” by ExSyn 225.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ tn The verb translated “I am confident” (πέποιθα, pepoiqa) comes from the same root in Greek as the words translated “obey” (πείθεσθαι, peiqesqai) in v. 7 and “persuasion” (πεισμονή, peismonh) in v. 8.

[5:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that you will think nothing otherwise.”

[5:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “is stirring you up”; Grk “is troubling you.” In context Paul is referring to the confusion and turmoil caused by those who insist that Gentile converts to Christianity must observe the Mosaic law.

[5:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “will suffer condemnation” (L&N 90.80); Grk “will bear his judgment.” The translation “must pay the penalty” is given as an explanatory gloss on the phrase by BDAG 171 s.v. βαστάζω 2.b.β.

[6:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “determine the genuineness of.”

[6:4]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he will have a reason for boasting.”

[6:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “and not in regard to.” The idea of comparison is implied in the context.